


How To Make Friends In Gotham (Vigilante Edition)

by Quicquidlibet



Series: Reverse Robin AU [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Reverse Robin AU, age reversal au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 04:11:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11751741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicquidlibet/pseuds/Quicquidlibet
Summary: Tim finally made a friend. Sort of.In which Tim was the one to find Jason trying to steal the tires off the Batmobile.(An AU where the order of the Bat children is reversed, making Tim older than Jason.)





	How To Make Friends In Gotham (Vigilante Edition)

**Author's Note:**

> My birthday ended literally thirty minutes ago (it's half past midnight), so I'm posting this as a belated birthday present to myself. Happy 21st, me.  
> Beta'ed by Anna.

“I think I made a new friend,” Robin said into his comm as he chased down the kid he had just met.

 _“Robin, this line is only for important matters,”_ Redbird said, his voice drenched in its perpetually exasperated tone, mostly from dealing with Tim. But if you were to ask Tim, Damian had brought that exasperation on himself, if you really sat down and thought about it. Damian wouldn’t have to deal with Tim as Robin if he hadn’t offered to train him. His own fault, really.

 _“No, no, let him talk, Red. I wanna hear about his new friend,”_ Batgirl said. Of course she did. That was why Steph was Tim’s favorite. She wasn’t such a stick in the mud like Damian. Plus, she at least acknowledged his jokes, even if she said they were bad.

“He hit me with a tire iron and called me a boob,” Robin said. Tim had to admit to himself, he was a little jealous of the kid. Who else could say that they did that to one of Gotham’s heroes and not be considered a major crime villain? Sure, he had gotten to pull some dumb pranks on Batman, Redbird, and Batgirl, but he was _Robin._ Most of his stories required that knowledge for context, and he wasn’t going to go around just sharing that for kicks. Did it really count as a cool story if he couldn’t _tell_ it?

He turned a corner and- There! He found the kid at the end of one of the less rank alleys in Gotham. The dumpsters had been emptied fairly recently, and the sewer hole was sealed shut. The lights still weren’t the best, but well, Gotham alleys never had good lighting.

 _“He hit you with a tire iron?”_ Okay, maybe he should’ve left that part out. Redbird wouldn’t admit it, but he was protective as all hell when he wanted to be. Tim liked to think he was Damian’s favorite between him and Steph, likely because he was the youngest. Damian would never admit to enjoying the company of either of them, because he was emotionally constipated like that, but Tim was still pretty confident that Damian liked him best. Steph told him it was just his ‘only child syndrome’ kicking in and making him think he was special. Whatever, she was just jealous.

Robin quietly settled in behind the boy, who had stopped to rest near one of the dumpsters. It was almost a peaceful scene, if peaceful included two minors running around the city streets at night. At the very least, Robin found it peaceful by vigilante standards. And then he ruined it. “He was trying to steal the wheels off the Batmobile. I think he’s like ten or something.”

“I’m twelve, bird brain!” The kid spun around and tried to land another hit on Robin, but the vigilante just dodged and laughed. This kid was ballsy, and Tim thought that was cool.

 _“Why is a twelve year old trying to steal my tires?”_ Batman asked. He had to speak over the sound of Batgirl’s laughter, which kinda dampened the stern authority figure voice he was probably aiming for. It was okay, though. Tim wasn’t too intimidated by Bruce’s dad voice in the first place, so having it ruined by Steph’s laughter didn’t make much of a difference.

“Hey, kid. Why were you trying to steal the Bat-tires? Batman wants to know,” Robin said.

He hoisted himself up to sit on the edge of the dumpster, which he regretted immediately. Alfred was gonna kill him for intentionally getting trash stains on the suit. Too late now, though. He was in position. He had to look _chill_. Like a _cool_ hero.

“None of your business!” the kid said. Man, what an angry kid. Tim hoped that didn’t put a damper on them being friends. He really needed friends- Correction, he needed _contacts_ as Robin for when he needed to search the streets on patrol, and this kid could be a good contact if he would just calm down.

 _“Stop putting ‘bat’ in front of everything,”_ Redbird complained. Oh, that was _rich_ , coming from him. Tim was gonna have to tell Alfred that Damian had said that. The butler wouldn’t let him live down the fact that Damian himself had accidentally started the naming trend on one of his moodier days.

Batgirl renewed her laughter. _“You brought this on yourself, Red. This is the consequence of being sarcastic to A. Besides, I think Batcow would be offended.”_

_“Shut up, Batgirl. I’ll kill you a second time.”_

_“Stop squabbling, Bat-children,”_ Batman said, causing Robin to finally break into laughter. _“Robin, keep the boy occupied until I can get there, I’d like to speak to him.”_


End file.
